Canucks and Beyond
Canucks Thinned Down
by Alanah McGinley on 10/01/07 at 07:40 PM ET
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From Sportsnet.ca
The Vancouver Canucks made their final roster moves on Monday, setting their opening night roster of 24 players.
Heading down to the AHL’s Manitoba Moose are D Luc Bourdon, RW Mike Brown, RW Patrick Coulombe, RW Jannik Hansen, RW Michael Grabner, LW Jason Jaffray, and C Rick Rypien. Also on Monday, the Canucks released D Dan McGillis.
McGillis was with the team since mid-September for a professional tryout. Some of the others we can certainly expect to see again over the season. (And probably fairly soon, if the Canucks continue their recent pace of landing in the hospital…)
Filed in: manitoba moose, vancouver canucks, | Canucks and Beyond | Permalink
Tags: jannik+hansen,
jason+jaffray,
luc+bourdon,
michael+grabner,
mike+brown,
moose,
patrick+coulombe,
rick+rypien,
vancouver+canucks
Luongo, Past and Future
by Alanah McGinley on 10/01/07 at 04:18 PM ET
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From Evan Grossman at NHL.com,
There was a doctored, photo-shopped picture circulating the Internet this summer. Under the title 2006-07 Vancouver Canucks, there was Luongo, sitting on a bench all by himself. The rest of the players from the team photo had been erased.
And while it seemed that Luongo was all alone at times last season, there were definitely 19 other players dressed for every game he played in. Only his game was so sharp last season, he was so valuable to the Canucks, that it only seemed like Luongo was doing it all on his own. Luongo was so good that even on the nights he didn’t have much support, he was really all Vancouver needed.
Good article about Luongo’s first year in Vancouver, and what he expects of himself in the future.
Not to mention, a nice reminder of how grateful I am these days, knowing that when a hockey writer/fan refers to a Canucks-goalie-photoshopped image, he’s not referring to ones like this or this anymore…
Filed in: vancouver canucks, | Canucks and Beyond | Permalink
Tags: vancouver+canucks,
yo+luongo
There’s No Business Like NHL Business…
by Alanah McGinley on 10/01/07 at 03:28 PM ET
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It’s definitely not a boring week in the hockey business when the very league we love—despite all the ways it drives us nuts—receives notification of a lawsuit filed against it by one of it’s own member teams, MSG and the New York Rangers.
The lawsuit alleges that the NHL monopolizes control over team promotion. The Rangers appear to be the only team left in the league that hasn’t handed over their website, as everyone else has followed the new standards. And that hasn’t sat well with the NHL:
Filed in: business of hockey, | Canucks and Beyond | Permalink
Tags: marketing,
nfl,
nhl
NHL Summaries for Dummies
by Alanah McGinley on 09/28/07 at 08:11 AM ET
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While everyone else has been doing team previews of their favorite clubs, I’ve sort of been feeling left out. So I’ve decided to rectify that.
However, being limited by the fact that I don’t possess any qualifications whatsoever to share in-depth, complex team previews, I thought I’d prepare my own version instead. Which brings me to NHL Summaries for Dummies. Not team summaries so much as random information and/or fake slogans for all 30 teams in the league.
I figure that in a world where Maggie the Monkey has as much of a chance at being right as anybody else, in-depth, complex NHL analysis is probably highly overrated anyway.
Filed in: nhl general, obnoxious hockey blogging, | Canucks and Beyond | Permalink
Morrison’s NHL Iron Man Streak at Risk?
by Alanah McGinley on 09/27/07 at 08:33 PM ET
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From Elliott Pap at the Vancouver Sun,
[Brendan] Morrison, the current NHL iron man with 512 consecutive games played, injured his wrist in Wednesday’s 4-3 shootout loss to San Jose. He did not practise today and coach Alain Vigneault said he was waiting word on the severity of the injury.
“Brendan is going to get it checked out this afternoon and we’ll have further details tomorrow,” Vigneault explained following practice at Burnaby 8-Rinks.
It would be very disappointing if Morrison’s long NHL streak were to end, but on the bright side Pap reports that other members of the Vancouver Ambulance Brigade (Rick Rypien, Byron Ritchie and Aaron Miller) are all ready to go. So that’s something good, anyway…
Filed in: vancouver canucks, | Canucks and Beyond | Permalink
Tags: aaron+miller,
brendan+morrison,
byron+ritchie,
injuries,
rick+rypien,
vancouver+canucks
Hockey Players Can’t Act
by Alanah McGinley on 09/27/07 at 02:02 PM ET
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As a hockey fan, I’ll admit that I have a tendency to act morally superior to fans of all other games—as if “my” sport and “my” players are better than all others.
I’m told I suffer from Arrogant Hockey Fan Syndrome to some extent (which might be defined as: “the rabid belief that no other sport is anywhere near as fun as a hockey game” or “hockey players can do no wrong” or “everyone seems to hate us, but we know we’re better than you” etc). But who can blames us? If nothing else, the NFL, NBA and MLB certainly make it easy for an NHL fan to feel morally superior lately.
But there is one arena in which being a hockey fan really doesn’t provide one with much to brag about: acting. And nearly all related efforts at self promotion have been downright scary. Which brings me to Exhibit #1…
Filed in: business of hockey, dumb stuff, hockey media, vancouver canucks, | Canucks and Beyond | Permalink
Tags: florida+panthers,
media,
vancouver+canucks
Luongo Conference Call Transcript
by Alanah McGinley on 09/25/07 at 04:22 PM ET
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Today, Vancouver Canucks goalie Roberto Luongo participated in an NHL teleconference to answer reporters’ questions about this coming season. An interesting transcript, one of the surprising highlights being a statement that he would retire in the prime of his career if the NHL decided to…
Oh, never mind. I’ll let you read it for yourself. 
____________________
Q. Do you see the Canucks offense increasing this year? Do you see yourself getting a little bit more, as they say in baseball, run support?
ROBERTO LUONGO: I think so. I mean, we’re all a year older. We’ve played a year together as a team so I see us starting a step ahead of what we did last year.
As a team, I think we made a few key additions up front as far as depth goes. A couple guys that can put the puck in the net.
Filed in: vancouver canucks, | Canucks and Beyond | Permalink
Tags: vancouver+canucks,
yo+luongo
A Bit of Canada/Russia Hockey History
by Alanah McGinley on 09/24/07 at 08:25 PM ET
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My brilliant hockey friend and podcasting colleague DaveO (of Hockey Northwest) has issued a special, solo edition of our usual podcast. What is normally the The Crazy (Vancouver) Canucks, DaveO turned away from the Vancouver team to look at the national sport, providing a brief hockey history of the competitive relationship between Russia and Canada.
It’s a short, informative episode, looking at some events related to 1972 and 2007. Be sure to check it out.
Filed in: hockey media, The Crazy Canucks, | Canucks and Beyond | Permalink
Tags: the+crazy+canucks
Off-Ice Fighting
by Alanah McGinley on 09/24/07 at 07:25 PM ET
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This isn’t hockey related, but I thought I’d share anyway…
In late August, I covered the BodogFight’s 6th season television production in Vancouver for MMA on Tap. Among other things, I got to interview the rather famous billionaire bad boy, Calvin Ayre.
I’m not very knowledgeable on the world of ultimate fighting, and the whole experience was a huge learning curve. My thanks to the boys at MMAonTap for the education and opportunity. It was fascinating to see how another sport works behind the scenes—and quite honestly, these were some of the nicest athletes I’ve ever met.
Oh, and by the way? I didn’t mention it in the article, but Ayre is a huge Canucks fan.
Filed in: website business, | Canucks and Beyond | Permalink
NHL Team Owners We Love to Hate
by Alanah McGinley on 09/24/07 at 04:52 PM ET
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Last week I pointed out Players We Love to Hate from Jonah Keri at ESPN. This week it’s time for the team owners to hit the hot seat.
And the first NHL team on the list—and in the blackened hearts of Chicago fans everywhere, no doubt—is Bill Wirtz:
5. Bill Wirtz, Chicago Blackhawks: Estimated to be worth nearly $4 billion, “Dollar Bill” is the embodiment of the greedy, frugal owner who refuses to invest in his franchise and instead watches it fall into ruin. His refusal to pay Bobby Hull and Jeremy Roenick led to both players leaving Chicago. He’s also presided over the departures of Chris Chelios, Dominik Hasek, Phil Esposito, the Sears Tower, Wrigley Field and Lake Michigan. As a final slap in the face, Wirtz has blacked out Blackhawks home games for years.
You can check out the rest of Keri’s story for some other dark choices, as well. (Specifically, numbers 11, 13, 16, 17 and 31.)
Filed in: business of hockey, nhl general, | Canucks and Beyond | Permalink
Tags: chicago+blackhawks
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About Canucks and Beyond
Alanah McGinley has been blogging hockey since 2003 (with a notable gap in time through 2010, kicking it with new baby Lucy while living knee-deep in chaos while reading "parenting for complete idiots" during every spare minute) sharing opinions, rants and not-so-deep thoughts with anyone who will listen.
In addition to writing Canucks & Beyond and helping manage Kukla's Korner, Alanah was one of the founders and co-hosts of The Crazy Canucks Podcast. She has contributed pieces to FoxSports.com and the New York Times Slapshot blog, as well as other stray destinations in cyberspace.
So that's me. Who the hell are you?
Email: am@kuklaskorner.com
Alanah's Twitter: [@alanah1]
